Water

Generally when something is unique it’s also very rare: people with two different colored eyes, a teenage boy that keeps his room clean, mermaids (although, if you think about it we are all technically half mermaid). Then there’s water. Perhaps the most unique and most common substance on earth—accounting for 70% of the earth’s surface—water is astoundingly complex.

Water explores the many ways water connects us in science, culture, politics and life. Here you can immerse yourself in water’s unique properties and contemplate your personal relationship with water through meditative spaces and hands-on activities.

There’s plenty to go around…right?

70% of the world is covered in water, so what’s the big deal? There should be plenty for everyone. Unfortunately, that’s not true at all. Of that 70%, only 2.5% is fresh water, and most of that water is underground and difficult to reach. In fact, the distribution of water is so uneven that it has been a subject of violence for centuries. Nowadays, over 750 million people don’t have clean, useable water.

Water is designed to help you ask the big questions and realize that we are all connected by this life-giving liquid. Consider all the menial, routine things you do each day that require water: showering, drinking, using the bathroom, washing your hands, cooking, laundry, washing dishes. All that water is starting to add up, right? How would your life be different if you didn’t have all that water?

If we squander the water we have, there won’t be any magically waiting for us afterward. The water we have now is all we will ever have, and our relationship with it will determine the future of all life on planet Earth.

Pretty heavy stuff, we know; which is why, as you go through Water, we invite you to consider your relationship with this unique substance, and how you can improve it. The small changes you make might be a drop in a bucket, but every drop counts.

Staff Tip: Relax by watching a short video documentary exploring the underwater sculpture of Jason deCaires Taylor. In this exhibit you can learn about some of his even more ambitious projects.

Find Your Inner Genius.

Ask questions. Be curious. This is a museum where you touch the exhibits.